Chapter VI.

EXECUTING THE PLAN

Learning Objectives:

a. To understand the importance of execution

b. To appreciate the differentiation between planning and execution
c. Understand motivational theories as they influence engagement of people
d. To be aware of various leadership styles and their use in the effective execution of
plan and effectiveness of management of people.

"Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision,
and relentlessly drive it to completion" thus said General Electric former CEO, Jack Welch.

A. Definition of Execution

Execution is the carrying out of a plan, order or course of action. In the book Execution: The
Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, execution has been
described as a missing link." It is accordingly the main reason companies fall short of their
promises. It is the gap between what a company's leaders want to achieve and the ability of
their organizations to deliver it. Execution is not simply tactics, but a system of getting things
done through questioning, analysis, and follow through." It was also described as a discipline
for meshing strategy and reality, aligning people with goals, and achieving the results
promised."

B. Execution as a Competency

The manner, style, or result of performance: "The plan was sound, its execution faulty"is the
common concern among leaders and managers. There is an expectation that whatever is
started as a plan will lead to implementation and eventually, results.

Bossidy and Charon listed in their Execution book that the number one building block to
ensure execution is the leader's Seven Essential Behaviors, as follows:

1. Know your people and your business

2. Insist on realism
3. Set clear goals and priorities
4. Follow through
5. Reward the doers
6. Expand people's capabilities
7. Know yourself
C. The Planning and Execution Quadrant

In the diagram above, the four types of leaders are plotted per quadrant.

Quadrant 1. The non-planning and execution leader. No action. Therefore, no

expected results.
Quadrant 2. The executioner. Implements but actions are not backed up by planning.
Implementation may be faulty.
Quadrant 3. The planner. Plans but does not see through the implementation of
whatever was started. Absence of completion.
Quadrant 4. The planner and executioner. Ideally, every leader wants to be in this
quadrant. One can say that planning and execution are Siamese twins.
They should always go together. There is no question that from the four
quadrants, the ideal box is where you have a leader who is good in both
planning and execution.

To the question, which is better: planning or execution?

Arya Pradipta's view is that "planning is better than execution. One needs to think
before he/she acts. The better an individual plans his/her actions, the more there is
probability that the results will show a positive sign. Doing something is neither easy
nor hard. However, planning is something even more difficult.“ Moreover, the higher
and loftier the goals are, the more one should plan and think in a broader
perspective.
D. Execution as Link Among Management Functions

Execution links the other management functions of organizing, staffing, and leading.
Planning sets the stage for execution. Controlling measures results after the execution of the
plan.

Organizing is a management function that determines the structure and allocation of jobs.

Execution will not be possible without establishing the necessary organization structure
where roles and responsibilities of employees are specified. When roles and responsibilities
are explicit and clear, employees know exactly what to do. Division of labor is achieved.
Delineation of functions is emphasized. Confusion and encroachment of functions are
avoided.

Staffing is the manning of jobs. It is ensuring that the right people are placed particularly in
critical jobs. These people will be the ones who will be relied upon by the organization to
execute the plan properly.

Finally, the leading function reinforces execution. As the saying goes, all organization efforts
depend on effective leadership. Without a good leader, execution will not come into fruition.
Organization efforts have to be top-led, line-managed and staff-supported. Most important of
all, effective leadership sets the stage for excellent execution and achievement of positive
results.

In the book written by Orlando S. Zorilla, The 4 Gems of Management, Basic Principles of
Management, he touched in the portion Executing the Plan the importance of organizing
workforce systems, directing and guiding the team, and communicating to appropriate
parties.

E. Communication and Motivation

Other than the management functions described above, two other functions, communication
and motivation, are critical in the organization.

First, communication can be either top-down, bottom-up, and horizontal. Effective

communication promotes understanding, cooperation, harmony, and teamwork in the
workplace. Unfortunately, too often, our attempt at communication gets lost in translation
despite our best intentions. In the process, conflicts ensue. Second, motivation is inducing
others to act in a desired manner. Since employees are expected to be competent,
committed, and are able to contribute, motivational approaches by leaders should not be
taken for granted.

F. Motivational Theories

Over the years, several motivational theories were introduced. We will tackle in this chapter
some of the more well-known theories.
1. Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y

2. Chris Argyris

A. Immature-Infant End

i. Being passive
ii. Being dependent
iii. Being unaware of self
iv. Being subordinate
v. Possessing a short time perspective
vi. Having casual and shallow interests
vii. Being capable of behaving in only a few ways

B. Natural Movement with Maturation

1. Increasing activity
2. Independence
3. Awareness of, and control over self
4. Aspiring to occupy an equal or superior position
5. Having long-term perspectives
6. Developing deeper interests
7. Being capable of behaving in many ways to satisfy needs
3. Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

An individual's needs form a staircase. At any stage of his/her life, the individual has
specific needs. The needs progress until he/she is able to achieve the highest need.
It is important for a manager to determine the kind of need the employee has at a
certain point in his/her career so that the manager can effectively motivate him/her.
Once the need is satisfied, it ceases to become a motivator.

4. Frederick Herzberg's Theory of Motivation

Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory

 There are two kinds of factors: hygiene factors and motivation factors. His theory
concludes that there are certain factors in the workplace that can cause job
satisfaction and a separate set of factors that can cause dissatisfaction.

Hygiene factors (Extrinsic Motivators) like pay, interpersonal relations, supervision,

company policy and administration, working conditions, status and security—they do
not serve to promote job satisfaction but their absence can create dissatisfaction. So
managers must realize that not providing the appropriate and expected extrinsic
motivators will sow dissatisfaction and unmotivated behavior among employees.

Motivation factors (Intrinsic Motivators) tend to represent less tangible, more

emotional needs like work itself, recognition, achievement, possibility of growth and
advancement are considered as the "real motivators." So managers must recognize
that while these needs may be outside the more traditional scope of what the
workplace should provide, they are absolutely critical in empowering strong individual
and team performance.

Herzberg’s Theory of Motivation and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs all talk about
higher-level psychological needs such as achievement, recognition, responsibility,
and advancement. The key factor that differentiates Herzberg's Theory is the idea of
expectation. This is to say that intrinsic motivators tend to inspire motivation when
they are present, while extrinsic motivators tend to reduce motivation when they are
absent. This is because of expectation.

If management wants to increase employees’ job satisfaction, they should be

concerned with the nature of the work itself—the opportunities it presents employees
for gaining status, assuming responsibility, and achieving self-realization. If, on the
other hand, management wishes to reduce dissatisfaction, then it must focus on the
job environment—policies, procedures, supervision, and working conditions. So in
short, to ensure a satisfied and productive workforce, managers must pay attention to
both sets of job factors.

The Dynamics of Teamwork

It does not mean that when two or more people work together, cooperate with each other,
and share the same purpose, there automatically exists teamwork. Teamwork has to be
results-oriented.

When relationships are unsound, only 33% of resources get converted into results. The Grid
as a leadership tool focuses on improving relationships so that 100% of resources are
converted into results.

How is it done? By building a strong team where each team member discovers and
acknowledges what dominant leadership style he/she has and how his/her style affects his/
her team. How does the team resolve conflicts? How does it make sound decisions? How
does it turn failure into success? These are just some questions that individuals, teams, and
organizations should ask.

Rate of Change Inside Should Be as Fast as the Rate of Change Outside

We reiterate what Jack Welch once said, "If the rate of change inside the organization is not
as fast as the rate of change outside, then the end is near"

How does the CEO ensure that the organization is able to cope with the rapid changes
happening outside? By making sure that the strategy and culture of the organization (internal
resources) match the key external conditions that the organization faces (external
environment). Sustained competitive advantage can only be achieved through effective
people management and organization development practices.

If the organization is able to answer the people management and the organization
development practices right, it will be able to effectively shape the organization culture.

Chapter VII. MANAGING PEOPLE

Learning Objectives:

a. To learn to understand the different aspects of people management.

b. To appreciate the connection between people-focused and systems-based HR
interventions
c. To gain knowledge of the evolution of people management, dating back from its
humble beginnings
d. To understand how functional areas are linked with every aspect of the employee life
cycle
e. To appreciate the significance of people management programs and initiatives as
they affect every aspect of the employee life cycle.
f. To be cognizant of how people managers play a critical and strategic role in helping
CEOs grow the business.
g. To be aware of the challenges of strategic HR with examples of strategic HR work
and initiatives

In an Asia Pacific conference attended by 700 HR professionals, the opening activity was a
CEO plenary session titled, "Winning for the Future" where three CEOs from Citibank, Fuji
Xerox, and Hutchison Telecommunications were guest speakers. When asked individually
what they thought was the role of HR in their respective organizations, the gentleman from
Fuji Xerox (Hongkong) Limited, CEO Ramagopal Rao, came up with what I thought was the
best answer, "I view HR's role as being a strategic business partner. There is also one role of
HR which I find very important. It is being able to solve organization concerns which cannot
be solved by line managers." This generated a round of applause from the audience, in
contrast to the gentleman from Citibank who was direct and critical of HR, "HR people
should not make the mistake of thinking that they are the ones who should decide. They are
only there to support the CEO.”The experience that this writer just shared shows the current
state of the HR profession. Some companies regard HR as a key factor in an organization's
success but there are still some who do not appreciate the role of HR.

A. Definition of Human Resource Management

Human Resource Management (or simply HR) is a function that involves the management of
people. The objective of the HR function is to ensure that people's performance is optimized.
It is the responsibility of every manager to ensure that people are competent, committed,
and engaged. If they are, they are able to contribute more effectively and efficiently to the
achievement of the organization's business objectives.

Ranulfo P. Payos and Orlando S. Zorilla, together with PMAP founder, Perfecto S. Sison,
indicated in their book People Management in the 21st Century, "Companies have to ensure
that the organization's people functions are creating value for the firm. People managers
need to manage the "people" side of the business in such a way as to create a value for the
organization as well as for the employee. New technologies can result in employees working
more efficiently, as well as providing higher quality products or services to customers. As a
support to this use of new technology, the design of work, training programs, and reward
systems often need to be reconfigured to conform to the core competencies required of
organizations and employees."

Further, Sison, Payos, and Zorilla cited in the same book, "There is a move toward a new
concept: Human Capital Management. This concept may be discussed from two major
viewpoints. From management's point of view, the employee shall now be recognized as
human capital who has a greater stake in the company's profitability. He is a capitalist - an
industrial partner, if you will, in a partnership firm – who is to be treated and empowered like
a capitalist partner. With this perspective, a company and its employees share a congruence
of interests. Since, in a certain sense, the employee is also a capitalist, he/she is contributing
this time, physical, and mental efforts, as well as displaying dedication and commitment for
the company to grow and operate profitably. It is the job of the people manager to provide
the environment for this human capital to contribute significantly to the financial results and
sustainable development of the company and to have a just and fair return on his/her
investments."

B. The Origin of HR

Truly, HR has metamorphosed from its humble beginnings dating back 1920 which is
believed to be the year the HR function was born with the publication of the first discipline's
textbook titled, "Personnel Administration.” Then starting in the 70s, the name Personnel
Department began to disappear from corporate organization charts, replaced by Human
Resources Department. While in some cases the name change was motivated more by
fashion than values, it did mark the beginning of a philosophical shift. Personnel was a loose
collection of functions relating to people. "Human resource” management looks at people as
an organizational resource and focuses on maximizing that resource's contribution to the
organization's success. Beginning year 2000, there was even a shift in the terminology used
from human resources to human capital to emphasize that people are not just assets which
organizations can use or misuse at will but rather a vital investment. Truly, the role of HR
from being a personnel records keeper and picnic planner has gone a long, long way from its
humble beginnings.

C. The HR Framework 2

HRD is people-focused while HR is systems-focused. This simply means that when you take
a look at the functional areas of HR on the left side, the recipients of all human resource
development (HRD) interventions are people. On the other hand, human resource
management (HRM) on the right side ensures that there are strong systems and internal
processes on the functional areas cited so that people can function more effectively.

D. Human Resource Development (HRD)

1. Career Development - an HR function that tracks an employee's career (a sequence

of separate but related jobs) that provides direction, continuity, order and meaning in
an employee's life.
2. Performance Management - a function where the performance of an employee is
regularly appraised as basis for giving him/her a merit increase and/or promotion,
and guide him/her in further developing his/her competencies.
 3. Employee Relations - a function that promotes employee engagement and
commitment to the organization through efforts at relating well, motivating,
disciplining, and communicating with employees.
4. Learning and Development - a function where employees are provided training and
development through various interventions such as on-the-job training, coaching and
mentoring, and classroom training which are all designed to enhance his/her
knowledge, skills, and behavior.

E. Human Resource Management (HRM)

1. Organization Design is a process of putting up the appropriate type and form of the
organization that will suit its overall business purpose. It is meant to establish the
type of structure that will make the organization effective, efficient, attuned to the
times, and responsive to its business requirement as well as employees' needs.
2. Workforce Planning is a process of determining and identifying the right quantity
and quality of people to be hired. It precedes any recruitment effort. The organization
has to know first the right number of people to be hired in order to avoid a situation
where it can be over-manned or undermanned. On the other hand, the organization
has to figure out what sort of competencies (knowledge, skills, and behavior) the
employees should have for them to become successful in order to ensure that the
organization hires only those people who possess such competencies.
3. Recruitment, Selection, and Placement is a process of sourcing, identifying,
selecting and hiring candidates for certain jobs based on the proper matching of
candidates' qualifications and job specifications, including their competency
requirements.
4. Rewards and Recognition is a process of identifying monetary compensation such
as salary, benefits and other perks, and non-monetary compensation such as
awards, commendations, and other similar types of remuneration, incentives, and
other considerations to motivate and inspire employees.

F. Employee Life Cycle 5

When one takes a look at the HR Framework discussed in Section C of this chapter, you will
understand and appreciate better the various functional areas of HR when you are
reconciled with every step of the Employee Life Cycle.

An individual is recruited and what follows is his/her orientation. The new employee sets in,
learns about the organization, its operations and its people, among others, and acclimatizes
himself/herself with the practices of the organization. The employee is expected to turn in
satisfactory, if not competent performance, in return for remuneration commensurate to
his/her qualifications and functions. A fair day's pay for a fair day's work. As he/she grows in
the organization, there comes a time when the employee will find the job monotonous and
he/she starts to become complacent. There are even instances when, other just becoming
complacent, the employee becomes disengaged.

The value of human resource management becomes more pronounced as the reader gets a
glimpse of the employee life cycle above, necessitating HR interventions every step of the
way through human resource development initiatives, and through strong systems and
internal processes through human resource management actions.

G. Why Is Modern People Management More Critical at the Present Time

People management has become more challenging and critical at the present time, given
the changes that are taking place in the environment:

1. Changing mix of the workforce (more female employees, more working mothers, 1.
greater demand for gender equality, with emphasis on women's rights)
2. Changing values of the workforce (flexitime, work-life balance, virtual HR, cafeteria
benefit)
3. Changing demands of employers (automation, technological advancement,
outsourcing)
4. Changing demands of government (Department of Labor promulgations, new
government legislations)

H. What Does It Take To Be a Strategic Business Partner?

David Ulrich identified the challenges of HR in becoming a strategic partner and this writer
has ventured into summarizing them:

1. By facilitating organization diagnosis, HR turns strategies into actions. HR should

take the lead in diagnosing the company and its operations by looking into the
effectiveness of the existing structure, systems, processes, procedures, people's
competencies, working environment, employee morale, etc. By pinpointing the areas
of improvement of the company, HR can effectively recommend to the CEO ways
and means for the company to succeed, be profitable, and flourish in a highly
competitive environment.

2. HR should focus on a balanced scorecard by paying attention not only to meeting

employees' expectations but also to coping with the financial and customer issues
vis-à-vis the organization's goals as well as establishing strong systems and internal
processes. HR should be able to demonstrate in equal terms as its counterparts in
finance and marketing the ability to look into the financial side of the business in
terms of, for instance, effectively managing costs and expenses. Moreover, HR
should plan and implement programs not only with employees in mind but also the
company's customers. For example, what is the profile of account managers that it
should hire, taking into account the customers' requirements and expectations.

3. HR's plans should be aligned with the business plans. HR professionals should
focus on how the HR function can add value to the business. HR should be able to
come up with cutting-edge programs which have a big impact on the organization. It
should be able to initiate programs that will significantly impact the company's
profitability and will increase productivity, improve operations, and save the company
money. HR has always been perceived as a cost center. This impression can be
changed if HR will take the lead role in judiciously managing the costs and expenses
 of the organization while at the same time, looking for creative ways to contribute to
the organization's profitability.

4. In the process of benchmarking with other companies, HR should not use the
information as a standard but only as a baseline. It is not merely benchmarking to
find out what other companies do in order to duplicate their best practices but more
so for the organization that he/she works for to perform better. HR should not make
the mistake of benchmarking only for the purpose of following the lead of other
companies which have done well. It should be able to understand and embrace the
lessons learned from other companies and then strive to outperform these
companies by coming up with significant modifications on the best practices adopted.

5. HR should be able to build core competencies or capabilities within the company

in order to provide for effective leadership succession, attain business success and
even in turbulent times, survive crisis. By identifying the distinctive competence of the
company and the required capabilities for it to grow, succeed, and cope with the
changes in the environment, HR is able to enhance its role as strategic business
partner.

HR work is now split into two parts: transaction work and translation work. Transaction work
has something to do with payroll, recruitment, training, HRIS, and other HR functions which
can be outsourced. While HR should be involved with these activities, the focus should be
more on translation work. In fact, there is a trend now among multinational companies which
have several HR personnel to contract out services and in the process, pave the way for a
reduction in HR personnel. But there is one aspect of HR work which cannot be outsourced
and that is translation work. This work focuses on organization diagnosis. It is HR's ability to
assess the organization's capabilities based on its business strategies and build an
organization with those capabilities which is the key to organization success. Such requires
from HR four roles: coach for business leaders providing performance feedback,
organizational architect drawing up plans for action, builder who delivers the HR practices for
implementing strategy, and facilitator of teams to manage change. There is also one role of
HR which should not be ignored and that is being the "conscience" of the organization. It is
the single unit which ensures that the organization always acts above board and maintains
the highest standards of professionalism and ethics especially when faced with a dilemma of
contradicting top management decisions which are perceived to be immoral, unfair, illegal,
and inappropriate.

I. The New Century HR Opportunities and Challenges

HR confronts a number of opportunities and challenges. Topping the list, based on the
annual surveys conducted by the World Federation of People Management Associations
(WFPMA) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) are the following:

Talent Management: Recruiting and retaining talent worldwide. This has always been
number one in the list.
Leadership Development: Developing leaders who are capable of thinking, inspiring, and
acting in the global arena. These leaders are vital to the success of organizations especially
in a knowledge-based economy.

Strategic HR: Increasing HR's role as a strategic business partner. Being able to know the
business, developing a line of sight that will align HR's goals with the organization's goals,
and all the time, finding one's seat at the corporate table and helping grow the business.

As HR guru David Ulrich said, we are in the "Golden Era of HR.” As HR professionals, we
should be able to seize this rare opportunity and start performing our role as strategic
business partners. Only then can HR enhance its true worth in this new age of human
capital.

Different Training Programs

The 70-20-10 Model of Training was introduced in the 1980s.

Generally, the models say that 70% of the learning source is from on-the-job or actual
training, 20% is from interaction with others, and 10% is from classroom training or
education.

The main reason for this is that "learning by doing" provides the opportunity for the trainee to
immediately absorb what he/she learns because of the hands-on experience that OJT
allows. On the other hand, classroom training is mostly dependent on the individual.
Whether or not he/she has the full concentration, listening ability, and comprehension to
learn is largely dependent on himself/herself. Since the method employed is for the trainer to
speak and for the trainee to listen, there is absence of the "doing part.” Learning is through
structured courses and programs ranging from technical training, behavioral training, job
orientation, etc.

Training through interaction with others allows the trainee to learn from someone like a
coach or a mentor. It is likewise considered as more effective than classroom training
because of the interaction with another person as well as the back-and-forth that happens
between the trainer and the trainee.

As the saying goes, "I hear and I forget (Classroom training); I see and I remember
(Interaction with others) and I do and I understand (on-the-job training).”

Effective Reward System

Rewards system is an important and critical part of organization design. It has a bearing on
the quality of life of people. While the right people have been recruited, trained well on their
competencies, and provided a conducive and safe work environment, people have to be
rewarded primarily for a job well done.

One way of designing a reward system is to consider the basic organization design, driven
by its existing resources and environment, as well as the personal values and management
style of the owners. Depending upon these factors, the organization may choose to be liberal
or conservative when it comes to rewarding employees.

The other way is to have a compensation strategy which is anchored on the organization's
business strategy together with identifying the expected behavior from employees in order to
effectively implement the business strategy. These are the ones that will drive the
organization to develop its compensation philosophy and eventually, its compensation
strategy. The challenge is to identify what kind of rewards system will generate the expected
behavior from employees.

Rewards can be both monetary and non-monetary. In this day and age, it would seem that to
some employees, "Money is not everything."The Herzberg theory which is discussed is
another chapter, in fact, reinforces this in the pay is not considered as a "real motivator." Pay
is considered a hygiene factor and while it is not considered as a motivator, its absence will
dissatisfy the employees. The "real motivators'' are recognition, achievement, etc.

It would seem, based on companies that have proven to be successful, that the second way
is the better way. It is imperative that the organization's compensation philosophy is always
aligned with its business strategy.

Leading vs. Managing

Are you a manager or a leader? Which is better?

A presentation made by Simon Cooper differentiates managing from leading. The

differences are the following:

Managing
1. Command others
2. Task-focused
3. Provides direction
4. High control
5. Trust self

Leading
1. Inspires others
2. Vision-focused
3. Provides context
4. Low control
5. Trust others

And finally, managing employs "command and control” techniques while leading generates
“people empowerment."